Create 'whole-person' performance management by building compassion into the process

Pioneering employers are ditching the standard performance management process of twice-yearly reviews, often detested by busy managers, in favour of a continuous, more personalised approach.

But if you really want more effective and more relevant performance management, build compassion into the process.

Compassion is a concern for the welfare of others and the basic human desire to help. Managers can demonstrate compassion by building personal relationships with their teams. Studies show that when employees feel their line manager cares about them, they’re substantially more productive and significantly more likely to stay with the company.

In the performance management process, line managers need to find a way to tap into what people personally find motivating - inside and outside of work - and where they get their personal pride. They have to ‘get to know’ the people they’re managing and understand what makes them tick. If a manager knows enough about someone’s career aims, their lifestyle restraints and their interests or commitments outside of work, then it follows that they respond more appropriately and compassionately, to help that person be the best that they can be.